The Full Story
by TamariChan
Summary: Interesting things always happen when Alanna is away. / Raoul/Alanna, for the Strangelove exchange at GL.


**Disclaimer: The world and characters of Tortall are T.P.'s.**

**Written for ALK, for the Strangelove Exchange at Goldenlake! This was prompt #5: Alanna/Raoul.**

-:-

"You're back!" he said, rather unnecessarily.

"Mmph." Alanna extracted herself from Raoul's bone-crushing hug and plopped down on her bed. Raoul had just barged into her chambers, adjoining with Jonathan's. Luckily, she had already changed out of her silken and wool travelling clothes.

"How was the trip? Mithros, Alan, we all thought Jon was crazy sending you away for so long alone, but here you are!"

Alanna grinned wryly. "And I didn't kill Jon for sending me out in the cold, either."

"Exactly," Raoul agreed. He collapsed on the bed beside her, in the lazily comfortable way he always did, and stretched.

"What have you been up to?" Alanna eyed him sideways.

He shrugged and pushed himself up to a sitting position. "Supper?"

Raoul held the door open for her, which she found a little unusual but didn't comment on, and they strolled to the mess hall side by side. She kept glancing up at his face. Raoul wasn't usually so pensive.

"Did something happen while I was away – something wrong, I mean?" she asked.

They sat down to eat. Raoul seemed to be considering, his brow furrowed. Gary and Jon were nowhere to be seen, probably dealing with some political sort of thing. Alanna wasn't fond of politics.

"We – Gary and I – we spent some time with Jon. He was upset about Delia–"

Alanna snorted.

"–and he had a lot to drink, you know how he gets sometimes, all flirty and desperate, but this time he was more talkative, more earnest–"

She quieted at once and Raoul looked at her. His cheerful face was serious.

"He told the two of us something very odd," Raoul said. "And I wouldn't have believed him, but he kept talking and the pieces fit together."

"I–" Alanna swallowed.

"I won't tell anyone," he said quickly. "I just thought you should know that we know."

"Thank you," Alanna said, and then there was silence because she didn't know where to start.

Raoul, thank the Goddess, didn't mind and just chewed a slab of mutton, waiting. Around them, the hall bustled with soldiers and knights coming in from the practice courts, some accompanied by bejeweled ladies or small squires.

After a halt, she turned back to Raoul.

Alanna told him about Thom and her swap in a soft voice. If she knew Jon, Raoul might know the basics but not the details. Something in her seethed and flared at the reminder of her knight-master giving her secret away, but right now she owed it to her friend to tell him the rest of the truth.

When she had finally stuttered out what had really happened in the Black City, Raoul whistled and leaned back. He forgot he was on a bench and nearly fell backwards. Alanna cracked a smile despite her nervousness and the somber mood of their discussion.

"That explains a lot more than it doesn't." He stood up and offered her a hand, which she took.

They returned to her rooms, idly chatting now about all the mischief Raoul and Gary had gotten up to while she was away.

"The lady's face!" he exclaimed, slapping her on the shoulder over his chuckles. Then he froze. "Sorry, I didn't mean–"

"No," Alanna insisted, grabbing his hand and holding it, "you can't treat me any different now that you know. It has to be just like before." She looked beseechingly into his dark eyes, which were wider than she remember them being.

"Does it have to be like before?" Raoul said, his voice a little hoarse. "Alan – Alanna – you..."

She looked at him quizzically. "Are you upset I lied to you? Because I am so sor–"

But he, in turn, interrupted her. "No, no," he said. "I understand that."

"Then what?" Alanna raised her eyebrows.

Raoul ran a hand through his curly hair and made a face. "I was telling Jon when he told me – this doesn't make any sense, does it? – about how… about how I thought I might be different."

"Different?"

His face was redder than her hair. "That I might be different in my tastes, so to speak."

"Oh." Alanna flushed too, her cheeks growing hot. "It's all right, Raoul. Even my brother–"

He shook his head before she could go on. "But I'm not. I thought…"

She suddenly realized she was still holding Raoul's hand. He rubbed his thumb absently over hers and she couldn't repress a shiver.

"I thought that because of how I felt about you," he murmured.

She didn't say anything, but her eyes must have said enough. Raoul wrapped his arms around her and held her tightly, her copper hair brushing his chin, but he didn't kiss her, like Jon would've tried to.

"I missed you," Raoul said.

She smiled, and for once she wasn't thinking of Jon. "I missed you, too."


End file.
